The Heart of a Titan
by Traitor of All Traitors
Summary: As he feared for his friend's safety, Shinji was unexpectedly captured, but in the process, he found that opportunity was being offered to him to change fate. Who has caught him and what do they want from him in return? My response to StraightedgeEpyon's Eva challenge. Breaking the story into small chapters.
1. The Capture

Creation began on 03-01-18

Creation ended on 03-01-18

Neon Genesis Evangelion

The Heart of a Titan: The Capture

A/N: I'm taking StraightedgeEpyon's Gundam vs. Evangelion challenge to see how that works with me. I intend for this to be a one-shot story, but I will break it down into small chapters. Like most of my other works, this takes place in the manga universe. Now it begins.

The day after Misato left to the Matsushiro facility for the Unit-03 test activation with Toji, Shinji was still disgusted with having no actual answer to why his friend was picked to pilot the Eva. While it might've been viewed as beneficial to NERV if they had more pilots and Evas, the Third Child just had a bad feeling for his friend being involved in a paramilitary group that was run by his cold and distant father.

 _I don't like this,_ he thought as he walked down the street.

Suddenly…

Swat! Shinji felt something small hit him in his neck from his left, just as he was passing by an alleyway with a dark blue van.

He started to feel woozy, dizzy and like he was going to fall.

Several hands had hold of him, lifting him off his feet.

"…We have him now…" He heard a female voice utter.

"…Good. I look forward to meeting him…" A male voice responded.

But Shinji couldn't hear any more than that as he finally lost consciousness. Was he being kidnapped? Did someone have it out for NERV or his father? Or was it something else altogether personal that he knew nothing about?

As he was pulled into the blue van, five people, virtual nonentities, started the engine and drove out of the alleyway, taking the quickest route out of Tokyo-3 before NERV got wise on the boy's disappearance and came after them.

To be continued…

A/N: Well, here's the first half. Anyone interested so far?


	2. The Awakening

Creation began on 03-01-18

Creation ended on 03-01-18

Neon Genesis Evangelion

The Heart of a Titan: The Awakening

NERV was high alert! The Third Child was missing and nobody in Section Two currently knew where he was.

"How does an Evangelion pilot simply go missing when it's your priority to keep watch over him from a distance out in the city?" Gendo asked the men in front of him in his office.

"None of us are sure how this could've happened, sir," one of them explained. "We had his routes memorized, we knew he went down that same stretch of road for months, but yesterday, we didn't see him return to Major Katsuragi's apartment."

"Wait a minute," went Fuyutsuki to them, standing behind Gendo. "You waited for him near Major Katsuragi's apartment? Not the street he disappeared on?"

"We had no reason to suspect that anyone was a danger to him walking down the street, Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki," another man explained.

"Regardless, your job is to have eyes out everywhere in the city to ensure the children are protected from any attempts on their lives," Gendo retorted. "Retrace the boy's steps. Find out where on this stretch of road he disappeared and leave no stone unturned."

The suits bowed and vacated the office.

"And what should be done if something happens to him that results in his death, Ikari?" Fuyutsuki questioned Gendo.

"We'll need to be ready with the Dummy System," he responded; he really didn't want to think about his son at all.

-x-

Shinji awoke from what felt like a long sleep, finding himself in a small lounge room that had a welcoming feel to it.

"Where…am I?" He wondered aloud.

"You're in the waiting room of Japan Heavy Chemical Industries' Cybernetics division," he heard a woman's voice answer him.

He looked at the entrance to the room and saw a green-haired woman dressed in a tanned jumper that was half-open, showing her cleavage and navel.

"How do you feel?" She asked him as she slumped in a nearby beanbag chair.

"A little confused," he expressed. "Who are you and why am I here? Am I a prisoner?"

"My name is Mai Rokubungi, and no, you're not a prisoner here at all. My father just wanted to meet with you about something our team has been working on for three years."

"Your father?"

"Didn't your old man ever mention him to you?"

"I'm sorry, but I have no idea who you're talking about."

"It's okay. It's not really your fault. I met Gendo only a few times when I was a kid, and he was not my favorite of relatives growing up. Still, it's nice to finally meet you for the first time in person. I never thought I'd get to meet my cousin."

Cousin? This woman, this Mai Rokubungi…was Shinji's cousin? The boy was now officially confused.

"Please, tell me about yourself, Shinji."

"There's really not much to tell about."

"Let me be the one to decide if that's true. I want to know who you are."

To be continued…


	3. The Offer

Creation began on 03-01-18

Creation ended on 08-07-18

Neon Genesis Evangelion

The Heart of a Titan: The Offer

Japan Heavy Chemical Industries' Cybernetics Division was a sub-program of the original Jet Alone project that was meant to replace the Evangelion units, but the sub-program was still active after the failed attempt to give a demonstration and had been putting the final touches on what they were hoping would be something the people would feel easier with.

"…So, you're in the business of trying to defend humanity?" Shinji asked Mai as she led him to where her father was.

"Yeah," she answered him. "I have a degree and talent for agriculture and chemistry. But my greatest specialty is in combining metaphysics with advanced robotics. It's called the Titan Project, after the Eighteen-Hundred-Eight painting known as _The Colossus_ , also known as _The Giant_. A giant depicted in the background of a crowd of people and cattle in a dark valley trying to flee from the giant…and the giant itself depicted as though it were preparing for a fight with something else that was unknown."

"Like the Eva?"

"No, nothing remotely like the Eva. That thing only works for less than five minutes and causes you mental instability, right? What we're building down here isn't meant to do any of that to whoever's in it. You simply get in and do what you do."

They stopped in front of a door with a tag that read, _"Rokubungi, Chikara"_.

"I've never met him before," Shinji stated to Mai. "What do I say to him?"

"Just be honest," she answered him. "Be yourself."

She opened the door and stepped inside the office.

"Father," she greeted a man sitting in front of a tablet. "He's here to see you."

The elderly man looked up at her and grabbed his cane.

"Okay," he responded in a friendly tone as he got up.

Shinji stepped inside and saw the elder. He well into his late-fifties, with grayish-black hair and blue eyes, dressed in a green jumper with headphones.

"Sir," he greeted, bowing his head to Chikara.

"Hello, Shinji," Chikara greeted back. "It's nice to meet finally you. I am Chikara Rokubungi."

-x-

"…Wait a minute, what do you mean, he was kidnapped?" Misato questioned Ritsuko as she was watching the final preparations being made to make Unit-03 operational. "Has there been a ransom demand for his return or anything?"

Of course, it was unlikely that there would be a ransom demand for the Third Child's return. If whoever kidnapped Shinji hadn't even made an attempt to contact NERV since the time the boy went missing, then it was possible that they weren't interested in anything material, like money.

"Keep me informed if anything changes in the situation," she told Ritsuko and hung up.

"But…" Ritsuko spoke, but the connection was cut; Misato didn't know that Ritsuko was also to be present for the Unit-03 activation test.

"Is something wrong, Ms. Katsuragi?" She turned around and faced Toji, who seemed bothered by something else.

"Uh, um…no, Suzuhara," she lied; she didn't want him to worry about the situation that might be nothing at all. "Are you ready for the test?"

Dressed in the black and blue plugsuit assigned to him, Toji expressed that he was ready.

-x-

It was quite the technological feat in front of him. That was all Shinji could think right now.

The Titan Project's prototype cybernetic construct was of similar height to an Evangelion, but appeared to be entirely mechanical, devoid of any organic material, with a similar build as a human body, but designed to mirror an action figure in many respects…or an amalgamation of different action figures. On its back were a pair of blades or gears that might've served as a propulsion system, with a tail-like appendage protruding from the base of the neck and ending at the back of its knees (A/N: A combination of the Dragon and Burning Gundams). The head possessed what appeared to be a small pair of golden-yellow horns or fins while the body was green and blue (A/N: A combination of Dragon, Shining and Burning Gundam), equipped with two sets of rod-like objects attached to hilt-like bases on each hip. At the center of the torso was a greenish sphere made of dense glass or Plexiglass, which, to at least Shinji, almost mirrored the red sphere sometimes present on the Angels, but not at all menacing.

"Impressive, is it not?" Mai asked Shinji, showing him the machine. "Almost makes the Jet Alone robot look like a cheaply-made dud."

"It's supposed to replace the Evas, isn't it?" He asked her.

"I doubt it could, but it's being hoped that it can fight at least one Angel."

"What is it called? Jet Alone Two?"

"No," Chikara to him uttered. "It's actually called Titan Gundam."

"Gundam?"

"In acronym form, it would mean Grand-Urban-Non-Disastrous-Anti-Monolith. Basically, it's a less-dangerous version of the Evangelion that doesn't use the same technology as NERV or its predecessor agency, GEHIRN."

"Titan Gundam…" Shinji repeated, looking at the massive robot.

"You want to try it out and see how it performs?"

"What? Uh, no. No thanks."

"I'm just kidding. It's not even finished yet. We're still looking at forty-eight minutes for its internal software systems to finish loading. An A.I. support system to act as the secondary brain behind the actual pilot's instincts is supposed to be the best combination between advanced machinery and human integrity. Some of us are hoping that it pans out."

"It looks like it could handle an Angel. One that's humanoid, I mean. Two of the Angels were of that sort, but the other Angels I've faced have been…less than reasonable."

"Really?" Chikara asked Shinji.

"Uh, yeah."

"At least your honesty's helpful, Shinji."

-x-

"…I'm supposed to be here to help oversee the technical aspects of the Unit-03 activation," explained Ritsuko to Misato when she arrived to the Matsushiro facility.

"And still no trace of Shinji?" She asked her.

"So far, there's been no trace of him."

When the eyes on Unit-03 lit up, the alarms began flaring.

-x-

"Hmm?" Shinji went when he and his paternal relatives were putting the final adjustments on the Titan Gundam.

"Something wrong, Shinji?" Chikara asked.

"Just had a feeling something was wrong."

"Then you must have a sixth sense towards danger. You get the feeling that something is wrong somewhere, then something somewhere must be wrong."

Ring! A phone rang, and Mai answered it.

"Cybernetics Division," she uttered. "What?! When did this happen?! Are you sure?!"

Shinji and Chikara looked at her with confusion over what was going on, and Mai looked at them while holding the phone down.

"That was one of our contacts at the JSSDF," she explained. "There was an explosion at NERV's Matsushiro facility…and their latest Evangelion, Unit-03, is heading towards Tokyo-3."

"How long ago was this?" Shinji felt the need to ask her.

"Less than twenty minutes ago. They think the Eva has been compromised because it's been acting on its own for over five minutes, something it shouldn't be doing, and there's something else. There was an attempt on NERV's behalf to eject the Entry Plug still inside it with zero success."

"You mean…there's a possibility that Toji's inside the Eva?" Shinji questioned.

"Someone you know?" Chikara asked him.

"One of the only friends I made when I was called to Tokyo-3. NERV approached him to be a pilot in exchange for better medical care for his sister."

"This is bad," Mai expressed, and brought the phone back up to her face. "Does NERV have any plan to rescue the pilot inside Unit-03?"

Her widened eyes told Shinji a very different answer to the question she had asked.

"Hold on, who authorized that objective?" She uttered upon hearing the update. "But that's crazy! Can he actually do that?"

When she hung up the phone, she couldn't look at Shinji without feeling like she had done something to hurt him.

"What is it, Mai?" Chikara asked her daughter.

"Uncle Gendo is sending Evangelion Units-00 and 02 to intercept the compromised Unit-03," she answered him. "Orders are to destroy it. There's no rescue operation."

"Wait a minute, you mean they're just going to… They're going to take out the Eva, knowing that Toji's still in it and he can't get out?" Shinji requested to know.

"I'm afraid so, Shinji. That's your father's orders."

But Shinji… Shinji couldn't believe this! It was NERV that approached Toji, it was NERV that asked him to be a pilot, who convinced him to do so if his sister got better medical care! And now…now, they were just going to give up on him when there was still a chance, more than a chance, to save him? This was not right, and anybody with half a brain could see that!

He looked at the console that displayed the Titan Gundam and thought of the painting Mai showed him of the giant that was preparing to face something…and felt he was making a crazy choice.

"What you asked me earlier," he went, "about piloting the Titan Gundamn… Is that offer still on the table, Chikara?"

Chikara and Mai looked at him and could see that his reason was simply because he couldn't allow someone, even someone he barely knew, be given up on just because someone else he barely knew or didn't know at all decided so.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Chikara asked him. "This isn't like an Evangelion. It might be less powerful for you."

"If I can save Toji, then I'll risk my life to do it," he answered him.

To be continued…

A/N: Trying to work on every other story, but not every story is a priority. Not since _Hope from the Sky_ needed to be worked on to deviate more from the canon of _Attack on Titan_.


	4. Test Drive

Creation began on 08-07-18

Creation ended on 08-19-18

Neon Genesis Evangelion

The Heart of a Titan: Test Drive

It was a different cockpit for Shinji as he sat in what Mai had explained to him was called a gyrosphere, meant to reduce G-force and other impacts (A/N: Think of the gyrosphere from _Jurassic World_ combined with the cockpit used in _Gundam Unicorn_ ).

"The machine's A.I. will began scanning you momentarily, Shinji," he heard Chikara say to him. "Just…try to relax. Subject body scan, initializing."

Two small prongs emerged from the sides of the seat and shot green light at Shinji, scanning him up and down.

"Whoa!" He gasped, and the prongs retracted back into the seat.

The screen in front of him began to display his face and some information relating to him, mainly his physical and medical health.

"Registering subject," a computerized female voice uttered. "Welcome to the Titan Gundam, Shinji Ikari. Shall we proceed?"

"The only way for evil to succeed…is when good people do absolutely nothing," Shinji responded, grabbing a throttle on his left side. "Show the way out."

-x-

Evangelion Unit-03, now codenamed the Thirteenth Angel, was approaching Mt. Nobe's rural settlement where Units-00 and 02 were, armed to destroy the threat.

"It's a real pity, stooge," went Asuka, raising her bazooka up to aim at the possessed. "It looks like you just couldn't make the cut."

Before she could open fire, the black Eva leapt into the air and slammed on top of her.

"Gaaurgh!" It growled at her, and then began bashing her in the chest and head.

"Aaurgh! Aurgh! Urgh!" Asuka grunted.

Unit-00, two meters away, took aim with her rifle, but had no clear with Unit-02 in the way.

"I have no shot," Rei announced.

"Just shoot," ordered Commander Ikari.

But before she could, Rei saw Unit-03 look right at her after tearing off Unit-02's right arm and getting off it.

"Grrr!" It growled.

Rei aimed her rifle at the Angel…but someone else had beaten her to the punch on shooting it.

Seven spheres hit the Angel's body…and left paint smeared on the Angel's face.

"Paint bombs?" Rei questioned, confused by this turn of events.

"What is that?" She heard someone over the intercom say as she looked up at the sky, seeing something fly down to the ground.

It was…some sort of humanoid robot that looked like some sort of…action figure.

SLAM! Its feet landed on the ground and it faced the Angel.

-x-

"What is that thing?" Shigeru asked.

"It…looks like it says, _'Titan Gundam'_ on its arms," suggested Hyuga.

"Someone built that thing?" Maya questioned.

"Do we have any communication with it?" Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki asked.

"We're trying to establish communication, but it's using a different frequency than the one the Evas use," Hyuga explained. "Hold on, we got a link. Attention, this is the UN-sanctioned NERV agency. You're in direct violation of a NERV-related situation. Identify yourself."

Suddenly, the connection was severed…by whoever had access to the Titan Gundam.

"Whoever they are, they probably don't want to talk," said Shigeru.

"Or maybe they don't want to talk to NERV," Gendo suspected, and on the screens, the giant robot raised its right hand to Unit-00…and gestured for it to back off. "Find out what we can about that robot…and who built it."

-x-

It was a close call, but Shinji was able to disconnect the communication between Titan Gundam and NERV; if the order to destroy the compromised Eva came from his father with absolutely no plan to rescue Toji from the Entry Plug, then there was nothing left to talk about. His only concern was to rescue his friend.

"Shinji, your Sky Eyes are being released to give you every possible angle of the place and the Eva," said his Uncle through the intercom. "Be careful out there."

"Understood…and thanks," he responded.

In front of him, the black Eva charged towards the Titan Gundam…and Shinji managed to make the cybernetic behemoth block its assault with little ground lost.

"Whoa!" He gasped, and then realized the robot had blocked in a way similar to the Eva. _It must be the A.I. that they mentioned._

He pulled the controls and forced the Eva backwards, slamming it against a hill nearby. Then, he made it punch the Eva three times in its head.

BANG, BANG, BANG! Titan Gundam bashed Unit-03's head, but the Eva just looked at the robot like it was nothing serious.

"Shinji, you have built-in weapons we were still testing that you can use to take out its arms and legs," Mai told him, and on his screen was a weapons option.

"A collapsible baton? Okay, that works."

Backing away from the Eva, Titan Gundam reached for one of the rod-like objects on its right hip, disconnecting it from its side and causing it to shoot out something that resembled a collapsible baton, only it was on fire! It looked more like a sword of fire than a baton.

"Yeah, this works," Shinji accepted and made the Titan Gundam swing the flaming baton at Unit-03's legs.

-x-

"Whoa!" Half of everyone in Central Dogma gasped as the robot sent the Angel falling after severing its left leg.

"I might be crazy, but doesn't it seem a bit convenient that this robot shows up just as quickly as this Angel arrives and the Third Child goes missing?" One of the lesser technicians asked.

"Try contacting the robot again," Gendo ordered.

On the screens, the Titan Gundam forced the Angel onto its front and stabbed it with its flaming baton in the right shoulder.

"Why isn't trying to kill the Angel?" Hyuga wondered, just as the Titan Gundam pulled out another flaming baton and stabbed the Angel's left shoulder. "It's going for the Entry Plug!"

With the Angel incapacitated, it made the manual removal of the Entry Plug possible. Was the Titan Gundam…trying to rescue the Fourth Child from the Angel?

"Unit-00, engage this robot," Gendo ordered.

"But, sir, it is about to extract the Entry Plug," Rei responded.

"Irrelevant," he told her. "The pilot may as well be dead already. Engage the robot."

-x-

Reaching for the plug now, Shinji couldn't help but imagine Toji being able to walk away from this. That was all he wanted right now. Then, looking up at his other screens, he saw the blue cyclops that was Unit-00 raising its rifle at the both of them.

 _What is she doing?_ He wondered and quickly made the Titan Gundam grab the plug and rip it free from Eva's back, the fungus-like growth falling from it.

Bang, bang, bang! Unit-00 fired at him, but his only thought was to protect the plug, not himself, from the pallets.

"I'm glad I can't feel pain in this machine," he uttered, and made it back away from the black Eva. "Come on, Ayanami, stop shooting at me!"

-x-

"…Urgh! Aaaahh! What in the Hell is going on out there?!" Toji shouted, wondering what went wrong with the Eva's activation test.

First, everything seemed to be running perfectly, and then the next thing he knew, he was cut off from the world outside the plug. He was starting to regret his decision to become a pilot; even if it was all for his sister's sake, it'd be moot if something happened to him. And now, it felt like the plug was being tossed around like a football.

"Oh, Kami, please, let me see my little sister and the Class Rep.! Please!" He begged to whatever deities might've been listening.

To be continued…

A/N: They never did it in canon, but we can get away with it in fiction by having a glimpse of what occurred with Toji inside the Entry Plug. Peace.


	5. Vengeance of Bardiel

Creation began on 08-19-18

Creation ended on 11-22-18

Neon Genesis Evangelion

The Heart of a Titan: Vengeance of Bardiel

With the plug removed, Bardiel, the Angel of Hail, no longer had a means to weaken the Lilim's aim to stop it by holding one of their own as a hostage within itself. Whatever this…abomination was that wasn't anything like what it had taken over, it was weaker than the grotesque husks the Lilim made in arrogance of Adam's image, but was strong enough to disable it and remove the plug. Now, it wanted revenge.

-x-

Unit-00 continued to engage the Titan Gundam, shooting at it until its rifle ran empty, but the cybernetic construct was only cosmetically damaged by the bullets, its only concern was the Entry Plug being sheltered in its hands.

"Entry Plug is secured," Shinji told his uncle and cousin. "I'm getting us out of here now."

Unfortunately, he couldn't do so as he saw Unit-03 getting back up.

"What in the name of…" He uttered as the black Eva regenerated is injuries and stood strongly on its feet.

Somehow, the Angel possessing the Eva had regenerated it and was getting ready for payback.

-x-

"The Angel has reactivated Unit-03," one of the female technicians in Central Dogma announced to the rest of the personnel.

"But the Entry Plug was removed," another male technician expressed.

On the screens, it looked like Unit-03 had eyes locked on the Titan Gundam. The way it was leering letting the personnel know that it was personal now.

"It doesn't seem like it's about the fate of mankind right now," Fuyutsuki expressed. "It looks like it's just about a personal feud."

Gendo, however, didn't care so long as the robot was taken out along with the Angel.

-x-

Shinji's focus was split between dealing with the Angel and protecting the life of his friend in the plug. He saw Unit-00 just standing there, as if waiting for orders from its superiors on whether to engage it or not, and wondered if Rei wasn't going to decide for herself.

"Shinji," he heard Chikara speak to him. "You don't need to engage it further. If you see an opening to run, I suggest you take it."

"I want to, Chikara…but I don't think I can," Shinji responded.

"Are you sure about that?"

Shinji looked at the black Eva and then at the plug.

"I have to fight it if I'm going to keep Toji safe from it," he answered.

"There's a hollow slot we built into the left leg," Mai's voice uttered, informing him. "You should be able to use it to house the plug until you can get out of there."

"Thank you, Mai."

A part of the robot's left leg opened up to reveal a small space in between several mechanisms, and it placed the plug inside the space. As it closed it, a heads-up-display appeared in front of Shinji that read, "Capsule secured", meaning it was safe to re-engage the Angel with minimum risk to Toji's life.

"Okay," he uttered, grabbing the controls tightly, "let's pick up where we left off."

Suddenly, the Angel charged and jumped into the air.

"Raaaauurgh!" It roared, slamming into the robot's front.

The Titan Gundam retaliated and grabbed it by its arms, surprising Shinji both in response time and maneuverability.

"Rrrrruurgh!" The Angel roared at him again, as if trying to intimidate or threaten him.

"Activate flares!" Shinji shouted, hitting a button on his left side.

Titan Gundam opened three compartments on its head and shot out small cylinders that lit up in front of it and the Angel!

"Rrraurgh!" Bardiel groaned as it released the robot and backed away.

-x-

"…Did that thing just use flares?!" Shigeru asked as the Titan Gundam reached toward the possessed Eva and gripped the exposed hilt of the baton that was still wedged into the shoulder area from earlier.

"Why doesn't the Angel just deploy its AT-Field?" Maya questioned the lack of defense the Angel was putting up against the robot.

"Possibly because Unit-00 is present," explained Hyuga. "Its own AT-Field is spread out, disabling its field, allowing the robot to engage it on somewhat-equal ground."

Then, as if enraged for earlier, Titan Gundam ripped out the baton…and thrust it into the black Eva's mouth, dismembering half its head off its body!

"Urgh!" Maya gasped, covering her mouth.

The Eva fell to the ground, seemingly dead, but then slowly moved its arms as the fungal growth that had once kept the plug trapped in it started to grow over the damaged area of the destroyed head; it was beginning to regenerate.

STOMP! Titan Gundam raised its right leg up and brought it down hard on the Eva's torso, punching a large dent into its armored plates.

-x-

"…Oh, no, you don't," said Shinji as he saw the Angel trying to regenerate the damaged head. "Get up from this!"

He brought the right leg up and slammed it down on the Eva's chest, intending to destroy the control center of the behemoth. For as long as he could remember ever since he was made to join NERV, each Eva's control center was in the torso where the Entry Plug was inserted. If he destroyed that area, the Eva ceased all function, and if the Angel had possessed the Eva, the same limitation had to apply to it, as well. The Angel would cease to function within the Eva and most likely die. All he had to do was just keep using Titan Gundam's right leg, since he wouldn't risk Toji's safety in the left leg.

"Die!" He grunted, watching as the Eva's armored plating was losing its durability. "Die!"

As much of the head recovered enough of its eyes just see, the Angel saw the robot bring its foot down upon it again, mutilating its head once more.

Crack! Something within the torso was strained, indicating that Shinji was close to defeating the Angel permanently.

"Aaaaurgh!" He yelled, bringing the robot's foot down on the Eva again, and watching it dig right through the chest area, making a large hole in it.

The Eva shook as the mouth gargled out blood and slime and then fell back, seemingly dead this time, making no hint that it was even faking it.

-x-

"…Unit-03…the target…has gone silent," went Maya, revealing that the Angel was dead as the Titan Gundam removed its leg from the Eva's chest.

"I can't believe that robot killed the Angel," Hyuga stated. "It's…incredible."

"Yes, it is," added Shigeru, just as the robot turned to walk away.

"It is leaving," they heard Rei say to them. "Do I intercept?"

"Negative," went Fuyutsuki, overriding Gendo's authority. "Let it go."

But Gendo was angry at whoever was piloting the robot. They came and interfered with his scenario, not that it mattered now since the Third Child and Unit-01 weren't there to deal with the Angel. Whoever it was would have to pay dearly for this intervention. He would make certain of such.

-x-

"…Over here! We found another survivor!" Misato, regaining consciousness, heard someone shout as her vision returned.

"What…what happened?" She asked, seeing the night sky.

"Oh, you're awake now," went Kaji's voice to her.

"Kaji? What happened to Unit-03?"

"It was possessed by an Angel…and had to be taken out," he explained.

"The pilot… Toji Suzuhara?"

"We don't know…because some robot intervened and defeated the Angel, removing the plug and then leaving with it. He could be alive."

But if he wasn't, and Misato feared such, Shinji would be devastated the second he found out. She was supposed to keep him safe, and she didn't.

-x-

Crash! Toji, feeling like he'd been trapped in the plug for a long time, heard a loud noise as he saw its left side crumble open in front of him.

"Aaah!" He gasped, holding onto the seat, as the LCL drained away from his lungs.

In front of him were some people in work gear and masks, a small crane and a large, mechanical leg nearby. One of the people removed their mask, revealing themselves to be a man.

"Are you injured, young man?" He asked Toji.

"I… Who are you people?" Toji asked instead, confused by their presence.

"We're with the Japan Heavy Chemical Industries company," he answered. "You were recently rescued by a prototype combat robot."

Toji looked up at the leg of the robot nearby and saw how it looked like an action figure.

"Toji?" He heard a familiar voice and saw Shinji within the group of people that ripped the plug open. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he answered him. "What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story."

To be continued…

A/N: Happy Thanksgiving, readers! I'm hoping that the chapter after this one will be the last one, but if not, at least I'm another chapter closer to the conclusion. Peace!


	6. We carry on

Creation began on 11-22-18

Creation ended on 11-24-18

Neon Genesis Evangelion

The Heart of a Titan: We carry on

About a day later, NERV received an intel report from Section Two, revealing that an unregistered van had pulled up to the residence of Major Katsuragi, releasing two occupants identified as the Third and Fourth Children.

"What did you say?!" Misato gasped on the bridge in Central Dogma, and ran out the room.

"Unregistered to NERV, perhaps, but likely registered to some other company," went Shigeru.

"Yeah, it's registered to some other company, alright," said Hyuga, who was checking the license plate number on the van. "It's registered to a sub-division of Japan Heavy Chemical Industries. But why would the pilots be with them?"

"That's something we must find out about," ordered Gendo, still angry about the incident from the previous day.

-x-

"It doesn't look like anyone's here," said Shinji to Toji as they stepped inside Misato's apartment. "So, what are you going to do when we go back to NERV?"

"Resign," Toji answered him. "Your old man was going to have me killed, and that's just crossing a line. That wasn't part of the deal I made with NERV to get my sister better medical care when they approached me with the proposition. Thanks again for saving my life."

"If I had to relive that day over again, I'd make the same choice. What's the point of saving the human race…if you can't protect the people that matter?"

Suddenly, the refrigerator that housed Pen-Pen opened up and the warm-water penguin came out, noticing the two friends.

"Hey, there, Pen-Pen," Shinji greeted him.

"Yarp," Pen-Pen responded.

The next thing the two noticed, about thirty minutes later, was that the front door opened and revealed Misato with her left arm in a cast and sling, accompanied by four Section Two agents.

"Shinji, Suzuhara," she uttered, seeing the two eating miso soup. "You're both okay."

"I take it that your injury is from the aftermath of the Angel incident?" Shinji asked, pointing to her injured arm.

"I thought you were kidnapped by someone," she told him, changing the subject back to him. "What happened to you?"

"Yes, I was kidnapped, but not because of anything NERV-related," he explained. "It's only that I had two relatives that wanted to see me, and then we found out about what happened with Unit-03 and what that man had authorized."

"Two relatives that wanted to see you?"

"Yeah, on his father's side of the family," Toji added in. "He's got an uncle and a cousin that work at Japan Heavy Chemical Industries."

"Then…this robot I've been hearing about that defeated the Angel and rescued the plug… That was you, Shinji?"

"One thing led to another in a series of unfortunate circumstances, but, yeah, it was me. My only concern was saving Toji. My father was just going to kill him with the Angel, even when there was a chance to save him."

This was something Misato wasn't informed about in its entirety. She knew the Eva had been compromised, but not that any attempt to force-eject the Entry Plug before engaging it with Units-00 and 02. At first, she wanted to assume that Shinji being kidnapped was part of an elaborate plan by someone to show that NERV wasn't as capable of dealing with the Angels as they were claimed to be, but then discovering that Japan Heavy Chemical Industries had likely built the robot that defeated the Angel didn't seem like a well-thought through plan, even for them. While their technology wasn't derived from the biology of the Angels, nobody there was likely to make strategies of the sort where a lot of risks were involved, including the sacrifice of an Evangelion pilot.

"What happened, exactly?" She asked Shinji.

"Before or after I was kidnapped?" He questioned.

"After," she explained.

"After I came to, I was introduced to my cousin, Mai Rokubungi, who introduced me to her father, Chikara Rokubungi, and they showed me the Titan Gundam they were helping to develop as another contingency plan against the Angels…"

-x-

"…So, it was built by Japan Heavy Chemical Industries…and piloted by the Third Child to save the Fourth Child after finding out that there was no rescue plan in the works," Fuyutsuki informed Gendo, who was informed by Misato as she told him that the three were on their way back to the base. "Ikari, you this could've ended badly either way, and that this is actually a boon instead of a situation."

In his office, Gendo was furious over the fact that it was his son piloting that robot instead of the Eva…and that whoever made him do so was making a fool out of NERV.

"The instant we find out who made him pilot that abomination, I'm going to…" He uttered, but Fuyutsuki cut him off.

"Nobody made him pilot the Titan Gundam, Ikari; he chose to pilot it to save his friend's life."

"That is irrelevant."

Suddenly, the door to his opened up and in came Major Katsuragi and the Third Child.

"Where is the Fourth Child?" Gendo asked Major Katsuragi.

"Undergoing a medical evaluation," she answered.

"Very well, then. It has come to our attention that you piloted a robot developed by a sub-division of Japan Heavy Chemical Industries. Do you deny this?"

"I do not," Shinji informed him.

"In effect, you went against NERV and jeopardized our operation by aiding an unaffiliated agency by operating an untested weapon."

"I was willing to risk my life to save a friend's life you were willing to throw away just to defeat one Angel. I was too far from NERV HQ to pilot Unit-01 and there was no rescue plan in force because of you. I asked your brother if the request to pilot the Titan Gundam was still open and I did what I did."

"You put countless human lives at risk, the whole world at risk…just to save a friend?"

"Yes, I did…and I'd do it again. But then again, I don't need your permission to do so."

Shinji then reached into his pants' left pocket, took out his NERV ID card and put it on his father's desk.

"What is this?" Gendo asked him.

"You can call it my resignation," Shinji told him. "I quit. I won't pilot the Eva, anymore."

"You're running away from your responsibilities again?"

"Whoever said I was running? I actually found a different line of work that's similar to this one, just more… Well, more reasonable and less dangerous."

Shinji then turned to walk away.

"You disappoint me," Gendo told him. "It's probably intended that we don't meet again."

Shinji stopped and turned around to face him.

"I'd rather pilot the Titan Gundam over the Eva, anyway," he told him.

When he left out the office, Gendo's phone rang and he picked it up.

"Yes?" He uttered, and then his glasses fell off onto the desk. "What?"

-x-

Although it wasn't an official test for it or the division in charge of its construction and maintenance, the Titan Gundam had caught the attention of the UN and how it was able to defeat an Evangelion that had been compromised due to an Angel. This by itself warranted the Japan Heavy Chemical Industries to have a second chance at being tasked with dealing with the Angels. And because it was being operated by a former employee of NERV that was doing so only to save a friend's life that had been put in jeopardy by said agency and Commander Ikari, it raised some controversy over whether or not they were working in tandem to deal with the Angel when it was confirmed the boy in question had later resigned in order to work at Japan Heavy Chemical Industries.

Later, after his medical evaluation confirmed that he was fine, Toji Suzuhara had also resigned from NERV out of contempt towards Commander Ikari's complete disregard towards his life, even if there was a chance of repairing Unit-03 after checking it for residual remnants of the Angel that had infected it; the fact that they were going to kill him before even considering the possibility that he was still alive but incapable of escaping from the compromised Eva had shown him that they weren't all that concerned for his personal safety.

" _I hope that nobody else even considers piloting an Eva if you're just going to declare a trapped pilot dead,"_ he had told Ritsuko before he left that day.

 _We've lost the Third and Fourth Children in one day,_ thought Ritsuko as she pondered over the use of the Dummy System, _and we were showed up by Japan Heavy Chemical Industries after their failed Jet Alone project. We didn't even know about their Titan Project._

And, of course, Gendo, during the meeting with SEELE, got the worst of it regarding the incident and the loss of the two pilots.

"…Your arrogance over the disregarding of the Fourth Child's life and complete lack of increased surveillance over the other pilots makes us question your dependability, Ikari," SEELE 05 told him in the meeting.

"Unit-03 was compromised and we had no means to ascertain the status of the Fourth Child," Gendo tried to explain. "Because we couldn't risk the fate of mankind, I made the logical choice to declare the Fourth Child forfeit and focus on the eradication of the Angel."

"And we're to understand that this action is what led to the Third Child defecting from NERV?" SEELE 11 questioned. "It sounds more like you deliberately tried to damage the bonds the boy has with those few around him. Why didn't you use the Dummy System you were developing? It was intended to render the pilots obsolete because they're not reliable."

"The Dummy System wasn't complete at the time."

"That's just another one of your excuses, Ikari," SEELE 07 expressed over his response, "and look at what it might've cost us. Even if the Fourth Child had survived, you might've risked more than necessary by trying to force your own son to attack him. The next time you're suggested to do something that won't jeopardize our scenario, you're to listen and carry it out."

"And seeing that there is no ethical means available to convince the Third Child to return to NERV and pilot the Eva, we have to consider him lost," SEELE 01 announced. "Don't even try to force him to return. Make sure the Dummy System works before the next Angel arrives, Ikari. That is all."

When the holographic monoliths disappeared, Gendo was left fuming with rage towards his elder brother and niece that kidnapped his son just to see him. He chose to blame them over the fact that the Third Child wasn't here to face the infected Eva and bring him one step closer to his own goal, which may have been compromised now because he couldn't exploit the kid any further.

" _Do you know what a man is called when they don't know how to treat those around him and push others away, Gendo?"_ Chikara once told him when they were younger. _"They're lonely and miserable, which is what you'll be one day if you don't treat the people around you with respect. You can't just demand loyalty from those around you if you yourself aren't loyal to a fault. It'll take a miracle for anyone to want anything to do with you and your attitude."_

 _Damn you, Chikara,_ he thought, imagining his son actually working under his brother. _Damn you to Hell._

-x-

 _Epilogue_

A whole year had gone by since that incident and Shinji's defection from NERV and joining Japan Heavy Chemical Industries as the pilot of the Titan Gundam. While he still kept in contact with Misato, Rei and Asuka above most others, there had yet to be another encounter with the Angels since Bardiel's appearance, which enabled both NERV and Japan Heavy Chemical Industries to improve their Evas and Titan Gundam, respectively. Or rather, Japan Heavy Chemical Industries had more time and resources to develop additional Gundams after the revealed footage of how their prototype defeated an Angel and expand upon the technology for its weapons.

NERV, on the other hand, had hit a speedbump in the development of their Dummy System when they tried to implement it with Unit-01, which went and rejected the system in its initial trial and all subsequent trials while it functioned with Unit-02 but couldn't work at all with the primitive Unit-00. The purple Eva even refused to sync with the First Child, revealing a temperamental attitude that the personnel didn't understand.

" _In other news unrelated to NERV,"_ went Ritsuko to Gendo one day, _"Japan Heavy Chemical Industries has completed construction of their fifth Gundam and found a pilot for it from the Japanese military factions."_

But Gendo could care less for that company; if he couldn't get Unit-01 to move without Shinji, who he was forbidden to manipulate back into the Eva, he was screwed.

Meanwhile, Shinji was just walking around the salvaged coastline of the original capital of Japan, which he'd been hearing from Chikara was really a marvel among cities because it was the biggest one to have ever existed before Second Impact. But in addition to the Titan Project, Japan Heavy Chemical Industries was among seven other companies that was trying to evaporate as much of the ocean water as possible to attempt to restore the planet to a pre-Second Impact state, something Shinji was actually hoping would pan out.

Ring-ring! His cell phone rang, and he answered it upon seeing it was his paternal uncle.

"Yes, Uncle Chikara?" He asked him.

"The JSSDF called me three minutes ago," he explained. "It looks like a new Angel has finally appeared after a whole year. We're deploying the Guardian Gundam and Sabre Gundam, but we'd probably be better if the Titan Gundam were deployed, as well. How far are you from the Gundam hangar?"

"I'm ten minutes away by the coastline."

"We'll be ready for you when you get here."

As he ran back to the hangar, Shinji, for the first time in a long time since he got drafted into the war with the Angels, was glad to be going up against another Angel because he wasn't piloting an Eva and wouldn't be subject to the synchronization defects that were nonexistent within the Titan Gundam. Whatever came his way, he was certain he would prevail in the end.

 _There are some things you simply can't fight,_ he thought as the hangar housing the Titan Gundam was within view, _these random acts of a greater force at work that I can't call acts of the kami. If you see an Angel, a giant creature that is a foul mockery of these angelic beings that were messengers from a higher plain, you have to run for it. But when I piloted the Gundam to save the life of a friend, suddenly, I lost my fear of these giant monsters. Suddenly, you can fight back against the monsters…and you can win._

Fin

A/N: I guess it was the right call to end the story with Shinji being optimistic towards fighting the Angel because he put his faith in the Gundam, which, after a year, of course, could've been modified and made more efficient for combat against the Angels. Even if NERV had improved their Eva technology, I didn't want to give them much hope after the Bardiel incident. And when I think about what could happen in future of this story, I think back to the painting that was used as inspiration for the Titan Gundam, _The Colossus_ , the giant in the background looking as though it is about to go up against a threat. Now, imagine the Titan Gundam in place of the giant and the threat it is going up against is an Angel. You put your faith in Titan Gundam. Peace.


End file.
